On September 21, USAID Administrator Mark Green announced approximately $575 million in new humanitarian funding to support emergency response activities in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen—the four conflict-affected countries facing severe food insecurity and malnutrition crises—as well as neighboring countries hosting refugees fleeing those crises.

Members of USAID’s Caribbean Hurricanes Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) on Dominica are coordinating with humanitarian stakeholders on the island to meet the needs of hurricane-affected populations. Constrained road access is a significant challenge to relief operations, and the DART is working closely with Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica (GoCD) officials, other donors, and relief organizations to facilitate the rapid delivery of assistance throughout Dominica.

Post-gu seasonal assessments indicate that while Famine—IPC 5—levels of acute food insecurity have been averted in Somalia, the risk of Famine persists through December for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable populations in the worst-affected areas of Somalia.4 In addition, an estimated 3.1 million people are expected to face Crisis—IPC 3—or Emergency—IPC 4—levels of acute food insecurity through December, with an estimated 6.2 million people likely to require humanitarian assistance, according to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) and Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit–Somalia (FSNAU).

On September 21, members of USAID’s Caribbean Hurricanes Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) arrived on the island of Dominica to conduct damage and humanitarian needs assessments. The DART confirms that Hurricane Maria caused widespread devastation on Dominica, including a critical loss of roofs, many obstructed roads, and damaged electrical, water, and telecommunications networks.

During the September 18–22 UN General Assembly in New York, USAID Administrator Green announced nearly $54 million in additional FY 2017 funding for the humanitarian response in Nigeria, including nearly $28.9 million in USAID/OFDA funding, more than $22.7 million in USAID/FFP funding, and $2.4 million in State/PRM funding.

Hurricane Maria passed directly over the island of Dominica on the night of September 18 as a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Widespread communications outages have hampered efforts to verify conditions on Dominica, and initial reports indicate extensive infrastructure destruction and at least seven deaths. USAID/OFDA is providing an initial $100,000 to meet immediate humanitarian needs on the island and plans to deploy staff to Dominica as soon as possible.

Hurricane Maria—a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale—is forecast to affect the Leeward Islands beginning on September 18, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The hurricane is forecast to bring sustained winds of 160 miles per hour (mph), 10–15 inches of rain, and storm surge of up to 9 feet to affected areas. The substantial rainfall is expected to trigger flash flooding and landslides, particularly on islands already saturated by rains from recent hurricanes Irma and Jose.

On September 15, a flight transporting more than 8 metric tons (MT) of USAID/OFDA-procured relief commodities—including blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, plastic sheeting, and water containers—arrived on the island of Antigua. In coordination with USAID/OFDA partner Antigua and Barbuda Red Cross Society (ABRCS) and other relief actors, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GoAB) National Office of Disaster Assistance (NODS) will distribute the emergency relief supplies to hurricane-affected families sheltering in Antigua. To date, USAID/OFDA has provided relief commodities to benefit approximately 32,500 disaster-affected people in the Caribbean region.

Health actors, including U.S Government (USG) partners, continue to scale up health and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities in response to the cholera outbreak in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State. Between mid-August and September 13, health authorities recorded more than 1,900 suspected and confirmed cases, including 44 associated deaths, in Borno’s capital city of Maiduguri and Dikwa and Monguno local government areas (LGAs), according to the Borno State Ministry of Health (SMoH).